It wouldn’t be a theme about new beginnings without diving into the neuroscience behind resolutions and why we, generally, struggle to keep them. As winter ends and spring arrives, many of us give up on our resolutions and write them off as too ambitious or not for us after all. For some, this is an annual pattern that is discouraging and has led to many dismissing new year’s resolutions as a gimmick they don’t practice. What is it then, that makes resolutions hard to maintain and how can understanding neuroscience help us set good ones we can actually keep?

Why we make resolutions

It’s no secret that many of us see ourselves as the protagonist of our own stories, and consequently, we mark our lives by turning pages and starting new chapters as a currency of time. After a gloriously glutinous December, we often feel the desire to renew ourselves with the arrival of the New Year; to put past mistakes behind us and forge a new path ahead. Inherently, we understand that our lifestyles shape our lives, whether it is what we eat dictating our health, or where we spend our time influencing who we meet. Consequently, if we seek to make changes in our lives, changing our habits is the best place to start.

What makes change difficult?

There is a lot to be said for the brain chemistry of changing habits, and for a deep dive, we have previously recommended James Clear’s Atomic Habits, which has become famous for good reason. The most important takeaway for resolutions is that breaking a habit is much harder than starting a new one. Our brains detest removing old connections, but are much more willing to initiate new ones, hence why addictions are so hard to overcome – our neural chemistry is working against us. Fortunately, understanding this quirk can help us to stick to our resolutions. By knowing how hard it can be for your brain, you can maintain a positive, compassionate attitude with yourself, accepting that when you miss a day or fall short of a goal, these things take time and you can just try again.

Moreover, the goals we choose to set are just as important as working towards them. Choosing to make new habits is more positive than trying to break old ones because the latter is frequently associated with negative emotions, such as guilt or shame. Frequency and ease of engagement is important as well because habit formation is fuelled by dopamine in the basal ganglia loop (BGL). You can think of the BGL as a system that looks for ways to automate actions as much as possible. Brushing your teeth, for example, is a habit we have all automated in the mornings. You enter the bathroom in the morning or evening, you see your toothbrush and your brain knows that it is teeth brushing time, and even the act of brushing is so habitual that you don’t have to think about it. 

The BGL works on a simple system that we can game to our advantage. First, we need a trigger, like seeing the toothbrush for brushing our teeth, but for the habit we want to form. Let’s say you want to start journaling after you have made your morning coffee. The trigger, then, is the coffee, so you place your journal and a pen next to your coffee machine, which reminds you every morning to journal for a few minutes. Once you have finished journaling, you have mentally ticked a box and consequently, there is a spike of dopamine release that rewards this behaviour. Since our brains like dopamine so much, the BGL begins automating the process slowly, becoming more effective with each day. Over time, the trigger generates a response without us having to think about it, and a new habit has been formed. 

Finally, there is another neurotransmitter we can use to our advantage - oxytocin. Lots of people decide every year that they would like to read more books, but find it hard to follow through. Oxytocin is a hormone that is associated strongly with a sense of community and bonding with others. We can make use of the good feeling oxytocin gives us by joining clubs that make us want to engage with our chosen habit, think book clubs or running clubs. By doing so, we create an environment that incentivises us to keep up the resolution because doing so rewards us with the feeling of being part of a community of similar people. 

How to set good resolutions

1. Set small goals that you can work on almost every day (also known as dailyish)
2. If you miss a day, do not beat yourself up. Maintaining a positive attitude is healthy and you can always do just 10 minutes instead of 20 - who’s counting?
3. Seek to create new habits in favour of breaking old ones. By working with the brain instead of against yourself, you may find that by giving time to new habits, you have less time for ones you want to break anyway. 
4. Establish a good trigger. By picking a habit you already do every day and placing a clear reminder next to it for the habit you want to form, you’ll set yourself up for success.
5. Join a club. Maintaining the discipline to create a new habit is difficult to do alone, but by feeling part of a community, you can create an additional incentive to make your resolution a habit.

Author: Thomas von Rein

References

Höchli, B., Brügger, A. and Messner, C. (2020), Making New Year's Resolutions that Stick: Exploring how Superordinate and Subordinate Goals Motivate Goal Pursuit. Appl Psychol Health Well-Being, 12: 30-52. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12172

Oscarsson M, Carlbring P, Andersson G, Rozental A (2020) A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLoS ONE 15(12): e0234097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097

Shum M. S. (1998). The role of temporal landmarks in autobiographical memory processes. Psychological bulletin, 124(3), 423–442. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.3.423